Music of the Heart
by Tora Ziyal
Summary: Hoshi and Malcolm spend some time getting to know each other over a candle lit dinner.


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Author Notes: I wrote this short story while I was waiting for my clothes to dry in dryer. Not that you care but it's times like that when I have streaks of inspiration :) Yes, this is a Malcolm/Hoshi romance story. Why ? Because they're just so darn cute together! Okay it's a little sappy but I'm kind of a sappy person sometimes :)

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* mean thoughts. { mean when someone is talking on the communicator.

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Disclaimer: Paramount owns Enterprise, Hoshi, and Malcolm. I don't :(

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Rating: PG

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Genre: _ROMANCE! _(Hoshi/Malcolm)

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E-Mail: tora_ziyal13@hotmail.com for feedback or archiving requests

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Music of the Heart

By Tora Ziyal

Malcolm sat nervously in the formal dinning hall, waiting for his 'date' to show up. Was she late or was he just very early. He couldn't remember what time they had said to meet. He did remember her saying that it would be after her shift but he was so thrilled to have an actual date. It had been the first time in a very long time. He tapped his fingers on the tabletop looking around the empty room, hoping that any minute Ensign Sato would walk through the door. All of the sudden Malcolm panicked, what was he going to talk about. He knew that Hoshi wouldn't want to talk about work, this was supposed to be a date not a tactical meeting. He had no idea what he would even say, what if he said something really odd (which he had a habit of doing around women). He swallowed the lump in his throat. _*What the Hell are we going to talk about?!* _Hethought as he watched as Hoshi walked into the room. _*She's gorgeous.* _He thought as he watched her walk over to the table. She smiled and sat down.

"Hi, Malcolm. Sorry I'm a little late, Captain Archer wanted me to stay on the bridge for a little while longer." She explained.

"It-It's fine." He faintly smiled. "Actually I thought I was overly early." He tried to laugh.

"Oh, I'm sorry." She smiled. She looked at his face and then at his nice black sweater he was wearing, she had never seen Malcolm wearing anything but his uniform before and he looked absolutely handsome in the sweater. "You look nice." She told him

Malcolm felt his cheeks burn a little. "...Thank you. You look lovely too." He looked at the bottle of wine on the table. _*Pour her a drink, Malcolm.* _He picked up the bottle, and smiled at her. "Would you like some wine Hoshi?" He offered.

"Oh, I'd love some but I'm not old enough to drink." She said kind of shrugging her shoulders.

Malcolm looked at her with a look of shock. _ *Malcolm, she's not old enough to drink. I'm going out with a teenaged girl.* _He panicked again. "...I had no idea, Hoshi. I thought-"

Hoshi put her hand over her mouth and laughed. "I'm sorry Malcolm. I'm just joking. I'm twenty-four and I'd love some wine." She said as she held out her glass.

Malcolm let out a sigh of relief. "You just look so young, I thought that I had made a mistake." He said pouring her a glass. "Are you hungry?" He said changing the subject.

Hoshi smiled brightly and shook her head yes. "I'm starving. What are we having?" She asked.

Malcolm furrowed his eyebrows in concentration. "I think the chef said he's making spaghetti and meatballs."

"Mmmm...My favorite." Hoshi said taking a sip of her wine. "So what do you wanna talk about to pass the time?"

That was the question Malcolm was dreading most. _*Why did she have to ask me that.* _He thought as he quickly tried to think about something they could talk about. Malcolm shook his head. "To tell you the truth Hoshi, I'm horrible at conversations. I don't even know where to begin one. So if you don't mind maybe you could think of something for us to talk about." He confessed.

Hoshi nodded and smiled back. "Do you like games?" She asked

Malcolm arched his eyebrow. "What kind of games?"

"It's like a 'getting to know you' type of game. We each ask a question and the other person has to answer it as well as the person asking it." She picked up her glass again. "It's really fun and we can learn a lot about each other from it."

Malcolm thought about it. "All right. I'm game." He smiled. "You ask first though."

Hoshi nodded. "Sure." She tapped her fingers on the table as she thought about what she'd ask him first. She smiled when she got it. "What is your favorite place?"

Malcolm thought about it for a second. "London, England."

Hoshi nodded. "Mine is Florida." She smiled. "You're turn."

Malcolm sucked in a deep breath. _*What should I ask her?* _He thought. "Okay, what is your favorite color?"

"Pink." She answered as she looked down at the pink dress she was wearing.

Malcolm's eyes followed her head down as she looked at her dress. "You look really pretty in pink." He said. _*Wow, did I say that?* _He smiled. "I like dark blue."

"Thank you." She smiled on the compliment she received. "Okay, what to ask you....What is your favorite type of music?" She asked him.

"Soft jazz." He responded without any hesitation. "Yours?"

"Wow that didn't take you anytime." She smiled. "I like world music."

Malcolm raised his eyebrow. "What's that?" He asked.

"Lots of different instruments from different cultures like drums, bagpipes, maracas, and stuff like that." She explained. "It's your turn to ask by the way." She smiled.

"Malcolm tapped his fingers on the table as he pondered what to ask. "What is your favorite thing to do when you're not working?"

Hoshi smiled brightly. "I love to read. What about you?"

"Actually, when I'm not working I'm sleeping." He laughed. "So I guess sleep."

Hoshi laughed with him and poured herself another drink. She was really enjoying her time with Malcolm and she loved learning about him. The questions they were asking each other were a bit juvenile so she decided to turn it up a notch. "What's you're ideal place to take a date?" She asked, hoping that he wouldn't mind answering it.

Malcolm looked at her a little shocked. He wasn't really expecting questions like that but he knew that he needed to open up with her and let her know the real Malcolm Reed. "I love taking women to the beach at night for a long barefooted walks on the shore." He told her.

Hoshi smiled. "That's so romantic." She wished that they were near a beach so that they could do that. "I love going to dancing." She told him.

"You like dancing?" Malcolm asked.

"Yes, do you?" She asked back.

Malcolm hated to admit but he loved to dance, actually he was a romantic at heart but sometimes had a hard time showing it, until he really got to know a girl well. He had only let one girl know him that well back when he was at the academy and now he was letting Hoshi know him like that. "Actually I love to dance."

Hoshi smiled and stood up. "Would you like to dance, then?" She asked.

Malcolm didn't get up but just sat there looking at how beautiful she was. He looked at her slender figure and her raven hair. Her brown eyes sparkled in the candlelight and her smile was so tender and loving. Malcolm just wanted to hold her in his arms. He looked into her eyes again and at that moment he knew that he was falling in love with her. He slowly stood up and took her hand and led her over to the open space.

Hoshi smiled as she buried her face into his soft warm sweater and wrapped her arms around his back. She had no idea that Malcolm was like this. _*I guess I just needed to get to know him.* _She thought happily. She looked up at his face as they swayed back and forth. "Too bad there isn't any music." She smiled when she noticed that his eyes were shut and he was smiling too.

"We don't need any music, luv." He said rubbing his hand gently on her back. "I think this is perfect."

Hoshi leaned her head back on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. That was music enough for her.

~The End~


End file.
